The Russian Government has introduced a bill proposing a simplified procedure whereby Russian citizens can obtain land plots, located in the Far Eastern Federal District. The procedure will be applicable to land plots owned by state or municipal authorities, with the area of less than 1 ha. A Russian citizen who received a land plot from the authorities under the simplified procedure will be prohibited from entering into sale and purchase, lease, gratuitous use, and other agreements providing for the transfer of ownership rights in the land plot, with foreign citizens and foreign legal entities.

According to the bill, every Russian citizen will be entitled to avail of the simplified procedure for free only once. It will be applicable to land plots owned by state or municipal authorities, with the area of less than 1 ha, located in the Far Eastern Federal District. The land plots received from the authorities can be used for any purpose not prohibited by the Russian legislation. Provided that the land has been developed, ownership rights will be transferred within a 5-year period.

Rosreestr and the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East are currently developing an e-service, whereby it will be possible to chose a suitable land plot. The e-service will provide maps and data from the state land registry.

Notably, the bill also proposes certain limitations of the land plots’ use. A Russian citizen who obtained a land plot under the simplified procedure will be prohibited from entering into sale and purchase, lease, gratuitous use, and other agreements providing for the transfer of ownership rights in the land plot, with foreign citizens and foreign legal entities. The limitations will remain effective even after the legal rights to the land plot will have been transferred to the relevant citizen (i.e. after the 5-year period). As the land plots are transferred for free, banks will not participate in the procedure.

The new procedure will support Russian citizens during the economic crisis and ensure the development of the Russian Far East. Notably, however, land plots in the Far East are often located in hard-to-reach areas, and considering that ownership to land plots will be transferred only after the land has been developed, citizens will have to work extremely hard to obtain ownership rights. Moreover, as land in that area is relatively cheap, it seems that the government is making a rather modest gift.